Lawyer's contact

It was a regular workday at office. The only unusual thing was it was raining heavily and because of that a lot of people had not turned up in the office. But again for Mumbai that is nothing unusual. That day me and my friend Isha went to the cafeteria at 4 o'clock to have our evening coffee break. The cafeteria was fairly empty. Isha sat at the table where there was nobody around. As I sat down she asked me an unexpected question, "do you know any lawyer?"

This question froze me. With wide eyes I was looking at Isha still trying to understand what questions she had asked me. I had no idea if I should respond to her or ask her follow up questions.

" What is going on here? Why do you need to know if I know any lawyer?" I did not realise but I did sound very interrogative.

Isha was taken aback with my question, "I was just casually asking because you know a lot of people," she tried to brush of my question and played cool.

"Then you could have asked me about doctors, hairdressers, or fashion designers why specifically lawyers? Be honest with me what is going on? Is this about Nitin or his mother? Is everything okay at home?" I knew that nobody asks about the lawyer casually.

Isha's smile dropped, her face became serious, and she said, " it is not about Nitin or his mother. It is not about me. Everything is good at my home. I wish I was able to say the same thing about Avi".

I couldn't believe that. Isha's elder brother Avi got married 3 years ago. I attended his wedding. His wife look so pretty and appeared to be friendly. I could not believe that Avi was facing problems in his marriage.

"Tell me everything, Isha" I tried to sound calm.

"I met Avi at a cafe last Sunday. He told me everything there. Bhabhi is not treating him right. She fights with him each and everyday over small things. She sometimes even hits him. He showed me the bruises. He is really in a bad shape. He does not want to tell our parents because they will get worried. But he said that it is impossible to stay in this marriage. He has already started gathering evidences against her. He has placed a CCTV in his home secretly so that he can document every wrongdoing that is happening with him. He is trapped in a bad marriage and he needs to escape," Isha was in tears at this point.

I was completely shocked to hear that. A pretty and friendly looking woman was capable of such merciless deeds.

After hearing Avi's story I definitely questioned my own bias. When Isha asked me about the lawyer I immediately assumed that she needed the lawyer because her husband must have been mistreating her. Based on one question I jumped to the conclusion that a man is using his power position to mistreat a woman. Not even for a single moment I thought that it was a man who required the help. This scenario told me that it is not always a woman who needs help. Sometimes men are the victims.